Welcome to BookBuzz! Reading is both a rewarding individual activity and an exciting shared experience. I hope this blog will help to connect the community of readers at Ecole Heritage Park Middle School by introducing new books in the library, publishing student reviews, advertising events and contests, and discussing the latest trends in reading. If you wish to publish a book review, please email it to Christine.Schmor@mpsd.ca.
The library needs bookmarks - not any old bookmarks - bookmarks that are unique to HPSS, bookmarks that tell a story, bookmarks that feature the artistic skills of students. So try your hand at creating a tiny masterpiece.
You can enter as often as you like until the close of the contest on Friday, June 8th. First prize is a $20.00 gift certificate to Black Bond Books, where you can start your summer reading collection. The top 5 most original, interesting bookmarks will be copied and printed and given out to library patrons next year.
Just come into the library and pick up the information sheet which includes a template of the exact shape and size of the bookmark. Here's a chance to create something beautiful and useful that will be seen and enjoyed by dozens, likely even hundreds, of people.
A small, but deeply insightful, group of grade 7 and 8 students met with Laurel and Ms. Schmor to discuss the first half of When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead. It was a lively, far-reaching discussion with no spoilers for the second half of the book. We'll meet to conclude our analysis on Thursday, May 31st and celebrate this amazing book with a pizza lunch! If you'd still like to join this group, there's time to get the book read. Just hurry down to the library this week to pick up your copy.
Laurel and I would like to continue the lunch-time book clubs next year. We'll likely begin with grade 7 and 8 students in September, move to grade 9 and 10 students for October, and then invite grade 11 and 12 students in November. Let me know if you're interested in participating and feel free to suggest book titles.
There has been some discussion around starting a book club for grade 10 to 12 students. The same group of students would meet monthly after school, discussing one book a month. Laurel would host the meetings. Let me know if there is enough interest and we'll finalize the details.
The last two weeks has been fun as some much anticipated novels arrived in the library. Rick Riordan's The Serpent's Shadow, the third book of the Kane Chronicles, has been in and out and in already. The City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare is, as usual for her books, getting rave reviews. For those who read Divergent by Veronica Roth and were desperate to find out what happens next, we have two copies of the sequel, Insurgent. Although the library has to start shutting down in the next three weeks, there's still time to read a book or three. Don't delay!
The last day to check out books will be Monday, June 4th. The day to bring books back to the library is Friday, June 8th. I know this is not happy news, but I need to get the inventory finished and the library ready for another busy year starting in September. Remember that the warm, freedom-filled days of summer are just within reach. You can spend some of that wonderful time browsing the shelves of the public library!
